Blogs from Skagway, Alaska, United States, North America
September 21st 2011
Slept til 8 this morning - latest since the trip started. Had to shower in a hurry to meet Jack for breakfast in Cagney's. he got a one day pass from the restaurant manager and invited me to see how the other half lives cause ron does not do breakfast. Eggs benedict- really good. Service was fast and it was quiet. Back to the room to rest a little. Met ron and jack again while walking thru the garden cafe. grabbed a very tiny sandwich to hold me til dinner. Went outside in the drizzle and walked to the train. Toni saved me a seat in her car with roseanne and frank. Helen, frank and lorraine got seats in there too. The tour was okay but got very foggy on the way back so we could ... read more
August 10th 2011
Night three; my first night in a real bed; my first night on dry land. Three giant cruise ships pulled out of Skagway as our humble ferry pulled in. I could almost hear the citizens of Skagway collectively groan: You again? It must be like having your poor relatives show up while you're still counting the loot your rich uncle left behind. I had to tramp through town in the dark to get to my hostel. Skagway looks charming: wooden sidewalks, noisy saloons, assaying offices. I can't imagine what it's like with 9000 tourists wearing I've been to Disneyland T-shirts crowding its streets. I rented a little cabin behind the hostel for a couple of nights. Over the phone it sounded cool. Just before she hung up, though, Janylin, the proprietress referred to it as the ... read more
July 29th 2011
At White Pass Summit, we entered Skagway, Alaska, USA. I think the first thought that came to both of us was that we never expected to set our shoes in Alaska again. It felt different driving into the US. Border formalities greet you just before you enter the town. Fairly empty & we got through fine. Just had to part ways with imported tomatoes & bell peppers. Hmm..Will have to be more thoughtful in the future. And we paid some $12 to enter the US. I am not sure why I did not ask the reason for the charge. Anyways, my head goes blank in front of a US authority. Skagway: A very cute little town. One drive on broadway st & you have seen it all as a tourist. The place is filled with jewellery ... read more
July 14th 2011
July 14, 2011 – LEISURE DAY IN SKAGWAY Three things happened today. First we went up on Dyea Way to get an overview of Skagway and some pictures of the layout of the city. It is long and narrow with the waterfront being only five blocks wide. The Skagway River valley is very narrow and hemmed in by almost vertical rock walls. The view from up on the hill gave great perspective to the town. Second, we visited the Gold Rush Cemetery which was used for only a few years from 1897 until just after the turn of the century. By then it was full! Most of the grave markers are for adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s and a number of children. Most interesting are the graves for the two most famous (or infamous) ... read more
WHITE PASS AND YUKON RAILROAD
Published: July 16th 2011North America » United States » Alaska » Skagway
July 12th 2011
July 12, 2011 SKAGWAY – WHITE PASS AND YUKON RAILROAD. Against all odds, this iron trail was born of the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush and built through some of the North’s most ruggedly beautiful terrain. The building of the White Pass and Yukon Route was the engineering marvel of its time. Completed in 1900 with British financing, Canadian contracting and American engineering, it hauled miners and supplies over the 3,000 foot pass between Skagway and the Yukon. Today’s train was pulled by 3 diesel engines and was 15 cars long taking us over the most scenic portion of the line, viewing spectacular panoramas of the Sawtooth Mountains and the Lynn Canal, passing cascading waterfalls, craggy mountainsides and steep cliffs. Interesting sights included several trestle bridges, two tunnels carved out of solid rock, remnants of the original ... read more
July 6th 2011
Skagway, Alaska, 6 juillet Après trois jours dans le patelin, après de belles randonnées en nature, le côté mercantile de l’endroit ne peut que vous frapper et le professeur en moi ne peut s’empêcher de vous parler aujourd’hui de tourisme de masse. Je vous ai déjà dit que la petite ville de Skagway (862 habitants) est littéralement envahie par les croisiéristes au cours de la belle saison et lorsqu’on se promène sur Broadway, l’artère principale de la ville, on réalise à quel point le commerce est ici le véritable maître des lieux. Par exemple, en plus des incontournables boutiques de souvenirs, j’ai compté sur moins d’un kilomètre de distance une vingtaine de bijoutiers-diamantaires qui ne font pas dans la pacotille. Diamants, émeraudes, saphirs, topazes, pas du toc et du très très cher! L’argent coule donc ici ... read more
July 5th 2011
Skagway, Alaska, 5 juillet Après toute cette route, j’ai trouvé un autre petit coin de paradis! Le terminus des croisières vers l’Alaska mérite bien sa réputation! Mais deux mots sur les derniers jours avant de vous parler de Skagway. Whiterhorse, la capitale yukonnaise, est une petite ville sans trop de cachet mais la nature environnante est intéressante. Une jolie promenade le long du fleuve Yukon m’a amené vers le lac Schwatka (réservoir créé par un barrage et où l’on trouve la plus longue passe migratoire à saumon au monde) et le Miles canyon, où le fleuve s’encastre entre des parois de roches basaltiques. De là, une petite incursion vers Atlin, un bled isolé de la Colombie-Britannique qui n’est accessible que par le Yukon. ‘La petite Suisse’ offre un coup d’œil séduisant sur les montagnes et le ... read more
July 2nd 2011
The family is off to Skagway by ferry. It’s raining this morning, but it’s a spitty-rain, not a downpour, so walking is fine. We thought it was about a 15-minute walk, so we left early to be on time and got to the dock 30 minutes early. While standing around talking to a local, we saw eagles and otters. That made it worth it! It was still raining when we got to Skagway and the wind was cold, so the first place we went was a tee-shirt shop for me to get a long-sleeved tee shirt to put on under my short-sleeved one. We also bought an umbrella since we didn’t bring one with us on the ferry. For Princess, we put a garbage bag over her “backpack” Snoozer. I think most people thought we had ... read more
June 16th 2011
We embarked from Juneau around 10:00 PM, heading to the northernmost port of the Inside Passage, Skagway. Upon waking on Thursday morning, we were already berthed in Skagway. It’s a small, charming town set among the high peaks of the Yukon. The town also relies on the tour ships for the majority of its income. We found a local café on the one main street for lunch and watched the people from within. The six blocks were lined with jewelry stores, souvenir shops and that’s about it. The lone bank, a Wells Fargo sat at the very end of town. During the winter months, about 800 hearty souls live in Skagway. In the summer, the town doubles in size to service the tourists. We engaged the young lady serving us in the café. She is a ... read more
June 1st 2011
Thursday, May 26th starting mileage 8512. 71 degrees and sunny. Got an early start as wanted to avoid the tours off the cruise ships. Parts of Skagway are administered by the National Park Service so we started in the old Train Depot for a city history tour led by a Park Ranger. There is a small museum in the depot and a topographic map of the two passes into the Yukon. When the gold seekers came by ship they had two options: dock at Dyea and take the Chilkoot pass or dock at Skagway and go up the White Pass. Early on, most used the steep stair step Chilkoot pass carrying a ton of food and supplies their backs. Usually they made 10 trips carrying 200 pounds each trip. The packs were so heavy they wore ... read more
